Falcons dispose of Platteville

Mueller runs for one score, throws for another

By Dan Hilsgen

The UW-River Falls football team won its last home game of the season last Saturday, defeating UW-Platteville 31-14 and extending their WIAC record to 4-3, 5-4 overall.

The Falcons generated 356 yards of total offense on the afternoon, 336 of which came on the ground.

"A little bit disappointed with the offense," Falcons head coach John O'Grady said. "I didn't feel that after our first drive, whether we scored or not, I just didn't feel we were as emotionally ready to play as we've been every game 'til this point."

The Falcons first score came with 10:01 left to play in the first quarter on a 10-yard reception by freshman wide receiver Scott Kusilek from quarterback Cory Mueller. The 10-play, 70-yard drive took nearly five minutes and kicker Dan Toninato's extra point gave the Falcons a 7-0 lead.

The Pioneers tied it up with 13:24 left in the half on a Chad Nate 1-yard touchdown run, capping off a 19-play, 74-yard drive. The extra point by kicker Brad Abraham made it a 7-7 ball game.

The Falcon defense then came up big when cornerback Toby Tyler intercepted a sideline pass from Pioneers quarterback Joel Beard at the Pioneers 30 yard line to set up a 37-yard field goal by Toninato to give the Falcons the lead for good, 10-7, with 8:23 left in the half.

"The defense played well," O'Grady said. "I think we defended them about as well as we can defend their offense. It's tough, it's a very, very good scheme. We had four interceptions and had a chance for a few more."

The Falcons extended their lead to 17-7 on a 1-yard scoring plunge by fullback Andrew Kruger less than three minutes later.

It didn't take the Falcons long to strike again, thanks to the team's special teams play, and it was Tyler coming up big again by forcing Pioneers kickoff return man Mike Patza to fumble. The fumble was recovered by Ben Kolstad at the Pioneers 37 yard line and he ran the ball to the Pioneers 14. Three plays later, Mark Shepherdson took a pitch and ran around the right side for the touchdown. Toninato's kick extended the Falcon lead to 24-7.

Shepherdson led the Falcon offense with 120 rushing yards on 13 carries.

The Pioneers scored their last points of the game on a 3-yard run by quarterback Aaron Mack over right tackle with 10:32 left in the third quarter, cutting the Falcon lead to 24-14.

The Falcon defense made two crucial interceptions deep in its own territory in the fourth quarter, warding off what could have been potential Platteville scores. Free safety Brian Katlack picked off a Mack pass at the Falcon 14 to thwart one drive before cornerback Tim Sukalski intercepted a long pass in the end zone for a touchback.

In addition to the four interceptions, the Falcon defense also came up with three sacks in the game. Free safety Luke Miska led the Falcons in tackles with nine.

"I'm happy with the defensive performance," O'Grady said.

The Falcons put the exclamation point on the game with a 5-yard touchdown run by Mueller over right tackle with 5:03 left in the fourth quarter. Mueller ran for 100 yards on 17 carries in the game.

O'Grady said he was very pleased with the Falcons' special teams play, particularly the punt return team.

"Our punt return team did a great job," he noted. "We really worked hard on returns this week. We saw what we thought was a real weakness in their coverage right in the middle of the field. After that I think Kolstad averaged 20 yards a punt return."

Falcon running backs Taylor Hall and Michael Grant saw some playing time this week. Both players, coming off injuries, were not 100 per cent healthy and O'Grady doubts whether they will be closer to 100 percent for this Saturday's regular season finale against Winona State at the Metrodome.

The Falcons play their last regular season game of the year at the Metrodome in Minneapolis at 9 p.m. against Winona.

For fans who won't be attending the game, MSC will be carrying the game on cable TV.

"We are very, very excited about it," O'Grady said. "We're going to look at this like our playoff game. I know we, as a coaching staff, are very excited about it. We're going to be on TV, hopefully have a good crowd. We always seem to play well in the Metrodome, and we need to because this is probably the best team we've played up there."